Distributor



NOV. 25, 1952 HAUBERT 2,619,556

DISTRIBUTOR Filed April 18, 1949 IELE=IL IE I E as 29 24 m I I I 27 mmvron f(/6/V f. #40559) Patented Nov. 25, 1952 UNITED 2 Claims.

This invention relates to distributors of the type commonly used in th ignition systems of multi-cylinder internal combustion engines for timing the operation of the ignitors in relation to the movement of the pistons in the cylinders of the engines.

In general distributors of the type to which this invention pertains include a housing, a shaft having a cam located within the housing, and a plate also disposed within the housing.

Suitably supported on the plate is an ignition circuit breaker having a fixed contact and a movable contact carried by an arm controlled by the cam.

It is the usual practice to journal the shaft in a bushing suitably secured in the housing and to support the plate on the bushing for limited rotative movement in either direction relative to the cam to permit advancing or retarding the ignition interval. It is customary to rotate the circuit breaker supporting plate by the engine manifold pressure to automatically advance and retard the ignition interval in accordance with variations in the engine compression cycle. Thus even under normal engine operating conditions, the circuit breaker supporting plate is rotated on the bushing with considerable frequency, and is subjected to a high rate of wear. In some instances the extent of wear is so severe that in a relatively short space of time, the plate becomes sufiiciently loose on the bushing to cause faulty engine performance.

With the above in view it is one of the objects of this invention to overcome faulty engine or distributor performance resulting from excess wear of either the plate or bushing by providing an automatically operated take-up between the plate and bushing. More particularly the bushing and plate are provided with correspondingly tapered bearing surfaces urged into engagement by yieldable means in the form of a spring. In accordance with this invention the degree of taper and spring tension is determined to assure taking up any wear and at the same time permitting relatively free rotation of the plate on the bushing.

The foregoing as well as other abjects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a semidiagrammatic plan view of a part of a distributor embodying the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

STATES PATENT OFFICE DISTRIBUTOR Eugene F. Haubert, Detroit, Mich.

Application April 18, 1949, Serial No. 88,156

In the interests of simplicity only those parts of the distributor having a bearing on the present invention are shown and described herein. These parts include a housing I0 having a cupshaped portion I! and having a centrally located hub 12 depending from the base of the portion l l. A vertical shaft 13 extends axially through the hub [2 into the cup-shaped portion l I, and is journalled in a bushing [4. The lower end of the bushing I4 is secured in the upper end of the hub l2, and the upper end of the bushing has an enlargement I 5 located within the portion ll of the housing l0.

Also positioned within the cup-shaped portion ll of the housing is a plate It centrally apertured to receive the enlargement i 5 and having a depending annular flange ll surrounding the central aperture in the plate. The flange I! is journalled on the enlargement l5, and supports the plate l6 for rotation relative to the shaft H3 in a plane perpendicular to the axis of this shaft. The purpose and means for rotating the plate I6 about the axis of the shaft l3 will be presently described.

Supported on the plate is a circuit breaker [8 having relatively movable contacts l9 and 20 respectively electrically connected to op osite sides of an ignition circuit, not shown. The contact is is fixed on the plate I6 by a suitable bracket 2| and the contact 29 is secured to the free end of an arm 22 having the opposite end pivoted to the plate for swinging movement in a plane parallel to the plate. The arrangement is such as to permit the contact 20 to be moved by the arm 22 into and out of engagement with the fixed contact I9. Movement of the contacts into engagement closes the ignition circuit and separation of the contacts opens the ignition circuit.

In accordance with conventional practice the arm 22 is biased by a Suitable leaf spring 23 to move the contact 29 into engagement with the contact l9 and the arm 22 is periodically swung against the action of th spring 23 to separate the contacts by a cam 24. The cam 24 is secured to the shaft I3 above the bushing M for rotation as a unit with the shaft, and is of a nature to operate the circuit breaker l8 in timed relation to the compression stroke cycle of the engine controlled by the distributor.

The plate I5 is rotated in either direction on the bushing 14 to advance or retard the ignition interval to suit different engine requirements. This is accomplished automatically in response to engine manifold pressures by orthodox means which forms no part of this invention. Briefly it will be noted from Figure 1 of the drawing that a casing 25 is fixed at one side of the housing It], and communicates with the engine manifold, not shown. A diaphragm 25 is secured at its periphery within the casing 25 where it is subjected to variable manifold pressures, and is connected to the plate l6 by a link 26' for rotating the plate to either advance or retard the circuit breaker l8 relative to'the cam 24.

It follows from the above that during normal operation of an internal combustion engine, the plate is frequently rotates in one direction or another on the bushing l4 and is subjected to considerable wear. It is not uncommon for the plate 16 to become so loose on the bushing I4 that the required relationship between the circuit breaker l8 and cam 24 is destroyed, resulting in faulty engine performance. To overcome this objection the bearing surfaces on the enlargement of the bushing 14 and flange [l on the plate l5 are correspondingly tapered as shown particularly in Figure 2 of the drawings. These tapered surfaces are yieldably urged into bearing engagement by a helical spring 21 having a loop 29 at the top seated within an annular groove 29 in the bushing id and having a loop 39 at the bottom resting on the plate l5. Thus the spring 27 rotates as a unit with the plate It about the bushin It. The tension of the spring 21 and the degree of taper of the bearing surfaces are determined to automatically take up wear of either or both surfaces without appreciably interfering with rotation of the plate by the diaphragm 26.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a distributor comprising a housing having a hub portion, a shaft extending axially through said hub into said housing, a bushing within said hub forming a bearing for said shaft,

4 a cam on the upper end portion of said shaft, a plate within said housin surrounding said shaft beneath said cam, a circuit breaker mounted on said plate periodically operated by said cam, and means for rotatively adjusting said plate to advance or retard the timing of said circuit breaking operations; a mounting for said rotatively adjustable plate which is self adjusting to compensate for wear and to maintain the plate o constantly in its plane of rotation, said mounting including an extension of said bushing forming an upwardly tapering conical seat, a hub on said plate having a conical recess therein for engaging said seat, and resilient means for maintaining the 'recessedhub in bearing contact with its conical seat.

2.'The construction as in claim 1 in which said resilient means is a spiral coil spring having one end engaging a groove at the upper end portion of said conical seat and the other end bearing against said plate.

EUGENE F. HAUBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,070,893 ,Honold Aug. 19, 1913 2,164,129 Turrettini June 27, 1939 2,348,236 Arthur May 9, 1944 2,465,529 Grant Mar. 29, 1949 2,471,318 Fitzsimmons May- 24, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 106,594 Switzerland Sept. 1, 1924 

